DIRTY THREE

We're delighted to announce that the band that make the saddest music in the world, Dirty Three are performing in the village on sat nov 12. The band are releasing a new album "cinder" in october.

Written by Warren Ellis:
Cinder marks the 7th studio album in 14 years from Instrumental band Dirty Three.was concieved on Phillip Island, in South Eastern Victoria,Australia in the summer of 2005. The Island is home to the very wonderful Mutton Bird and the Fairy Penguin Colony and site of one of the largest Great White Sharks fished from its waters in 1978.With each of us living on a different continent,impromptu practices are impossible,and getting together requires more than a phone call.A series of concerts were arranged in Australia,and we convened in the basement of a beach house.Each of our albums is concieved in a different way,and this was no exception.After two weeks of rehearsals,it was apparent we had alot of material.Somewhere in the vicinity of 40 songs,which were whittled down to 25.In January we booked 10 days in Sing Sing studios in Richmond,Melbourne.and with Casey Rice at the helm,recorded all the tracks.Our approach this time was to load the car up with as many instruments as possible,and then give each song what it needed.In the past we have tried to capture the bands live potential,and this time we figured to think about how me might perform the songs later.The songs are much shorter,trimmed down,classic in composition.The album boasts violin, drums, guitar, bass ,viola, mandolin, bouzouki, organ, piano, acoustic guitar,bagpipes and for the first time voice.Sally Timms was in town with the Mekons,and added some voice.A month or so later when Chan Marshal was in Melbourne playing some shows,she added some vocals.A first for a dirty three album,aside from a collaberation with Low for Dutch label Concurrent.I believe all three of us have played on her recordings at some point,and a collaberation felt right.Upon completion of the recording,we settled upon 19 tracks.

Of the 19 songs,18 are original,one being a cowrite with Chan,and the other is an adaptation of a song by Felix Lajko.He is a fiddle player from Hungary and is one of my all time favourite players.His first album Lajko Felix Es Zeneraka was given to me years ago after a concert in Berlin,and is long unavailable.I listened to it non stop through the making of Ocean Songs and it is one those albums you just find yourself coming back to.The song Zither Player is infact part of the original song adapted for our own purposes.He is a reminder that the fire is still there.

This album felt good to make,it sounds like a step somewhere to me in some direction,and that's what we have always been about.is dedicated to long time friend and advisor to the band,Mick Geyer,and is a celebration of all things inherent in the Dirty Three domain.And as he was oft to say,"It takes pressure to make diamonds".For me,our greatest success is that we continue to make recordings and concerts,14 years after our formation.Each album into it,feels like a page closed.The hunt is still on and the chase is still there.
Ellis Sur Seine FRANCE